Lethality Assessment Program Report - in Response to House Bill 1371
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LETHALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM REPORT - IN RESPONSE TO HOUSE BILL 1371 MARYLAND POLICE TRAINING AND STANDARDS COMMISSION DECEMBER, 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission wishes to acknowledge and thank members of the staff of the Maryland Network against Domestic Violence [MNADV] for their assistance in helping to complete this report to the Maryland General Assembly as required by House Bill 1371. MNADV staff members were able to provide the most up-to-date information on the use of the Lethality Assessment Program in the State of Maryland through their 2015 annual statistics. Likewise, the MNADV staff was helpful in providing background and historical information about the design and development of the Lethality Assessment Program, its screen instrument and the referral protocols currently used by many law enforcement agencies in the State of Maryland as well as information about the use of the Lethality Assessment Program in other states. In addition, the Commission also extends its thanks to Ms. K. Tracy Yingling, RN, BSN, FNE-A/P, Forensic Services and LAP Coordinator for the Carroll Hospital Center SAFE Program, for her input and professional editing of the “non-fatal strangulation” portion of this Report as well as the Commission’s lesson plan and power point presentation entitled “Non-fatal Strangulation Investigations” which will be posted on www.mdle.net in early 2017. 2 Executive Summary The Lethality Assessment Protocol: Intimate partner violence, commonly called domestic violence, is a complex social issue. Police officers are often one of the first formal contacts that abused women make. While police contact may result in victim-survivor safety in the short term, domestic violence victim provider services are best equipped to provide long-term safety options for the victim of intimate partner violence through safety planning, housing assistance and, in some cases, referral to mental health services. This suggests that the ideal response to domestic violence incidents is a coordinated response from law enforcement agencies and victim services providers. Most police officers have been trained to provide domestic violence victims with information about domestic violence services, but research has shown that only a very small proportion (12.2%) of women access advocacy services after police leave the scene. However, it has been recognized that police officers have a unique and ideal opportunity to intervene with victims at the scene of a domestic violence incident and connect victims to advocacy and safety planning. In 2000, the Maryland Network against Domestic Violence (MNADV) decided – among other issues – to tackle the problem of domestic homicide in Maryland. The MNADV set the goals of: 1. identifying victims at high risk for homicide by an intimate partner; and 2. creating a plan to assist them in decreasing that risk. To meet these goals, the MNADV established a statewide multi-disciplinary Lethality Assessment Committee in the fall of 2003 to create a protocol for response to domestic violence in Maryland. The committee included domestic violence victim advocates, police officers, and professionals from other related disciplines including prosecution and probation, as well as researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. Based both on research findings and on practical expertise, the Committee made two important decisions regarding the development of its protocol: 1. the protocol would be designed for field practitioners who came into contact with a victim of domestic violence during the course of their work, focusing on law enforcement officers who were the practitioners who would most frequently come in contact with domestic violence victims at risk for homicide; and 2. it was important to create a collaborative intervention between officers and domestic violence advocates in order to ensure that victims were receiving the services that they needed. The ultimate goal of the LAP Committee was to develop a field protocol that would identify victims of domestic violence who were at the greatest risk of being killed and encourage them to access domestic violence services. The Committee worked for two full years creating the Lethality Screen and an accompanying Referral protocol, field-testing it, and gathering feedback from the officers and advocates who had participated in joint field-tests with various law enforcement agencies and victim service providers. In October 2005, the Lethality Assessment Protocol was introduced and employed for the first time by the Kent County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office and the Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence. Its use expanded throughout the State until today nearly 100% of law enforcement agencies that respond to calls for service are LAP co-participants along with 20 domestic violence victim services providers/programs in all 24 state jurisdictions. A number of participants have been employing the LAP in Maryland for more than 8 years. Between 2006 and 2012, MNADV estimates that law enforcement officers have administered more than 56,000 screens. During that time period, 53% of victims screened at high risk; 57% of those victims spoke with an advocate at the scene; and 31% followed up with the Maryland Network against Domestic Violence. 3 In addition, based on the latest annual report from the Maryland Network against Domestic Violence, the number of lethality screens completed by law enforcement agencies in Maryland has remained relatively constant over the past 4 years although the total rose 13% in 2015 from the 2014 total. Likewise the number of victims of intimate partner violence who graded as “high-danger” also has remained relatively constant over the past 4 years. However, the number of victims who “did not answer” the screening questions increased by about 600 individuals in 2015 from 2014. The number of victims who spoke to a counselor remained relatively constant from 2014 totals; conversely, the number of victims who entered into some type of provider service increased by 9% to 4.3 victims per day. In general, it appears that the number of individuals assessed and who graded as being at a “high-danger” risk has remained relatively constant over the past 4 years but the number of victims who have taken advantage of various provider services has risen appreciably in the same time period. This data reinforces the need for first responders to continue to use LAP during response to domestic violence incidents. Maryland has been acknowledged by the National Institute of Justice and a number of states as the leader in the use of the Lethality Assessment Program. As of 2015, jurisdictions in 33 other states are implementing the LAP. They are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma (where the National Institute of Justice [NIJ] recently finished a study of the LAP), Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Model Domestic Violence Policy: As early as 1997, the law enforcement community in Maryland, represented by Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, the Maryland Sheriffs' Association, the Maryland State Police, and the Baltimore Police Department, in concert with the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions and the Maryland State's Attorneys' Association and the Maryland Network against Domestic Violence (MNADV) developed a model domestic violence policy for the entire Maryland law enforcement community . That model policy was introduced to the Maryland law enforcement community in 1998. Since its introduction that model policy has been reviewed and updated to include the Lethality Assessment Program and the danger/use and investigation of strangulation in domestic violence cases. That model policy is still pertinent today and is available on www.mdle.net to the public and law enforcement agencies. CONCLUSION: The Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) used by almost all of Maryland’s law enforcement agencies is seen as a national model and has been adopted by over 30 states. For its part, MNADV maintains an Advisory Council of LAP implementers, researchers and national experts from across the country to advise MNADV about emerging trends in the field of responding to domestic violence and, if necessary, to assist in making any changes to the LAP program. As an example of the Council’s input, members assisted MNADV in drafting a position paper which MNADV has recently published on the use of Body-Worn Cameras during the LAP protocol. Members of MNADV also regularly attend conferences and training sessions devoted to responding to domestic violence. Likewise, they meet with experts in the field of risk assessment at Office on Violence against Women [Department of Justice] sponsored events. Because of the above, there is no need for the Police Training and Standards Commission to develop a new or different screening and referral protocol. 4 Non-fatal Strangulation and Domestic Violence: As regards the “non-fatal strangulation” portion of this Report, research has shown that it is widely believed by domestic violence victim service providers and, now, researchers into domestic violence that strangulation: ► is one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence: ■ when a victim is strangled, she/he is at the edge of a